LAHORE: A Czech model sentenced in 2019 to eight years in prison on charges of attempting to smuggle heroin from Pakistan to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) was released late Saturday from prison following her acquittal earlier this month, her lawyer said.
Tereza Hluskova left the prison in Lahore where she was handed over to representatives of the Czech Embassy and headed to Islamabad, according to her attorney, Saif ul-Malook.
Czech Foreign Minister Jakub Kulhanek tweeted about the release, saying the embassy in Islamabad would help arrange her trip back to the Czech Republic.
The 24-year-old was arrested in January 2018 in possession of 8.5 kilograms, or 19 pounds, of heroin at the Allama Iqbal International Airport in Lahore from where she was heading to Ireland via Dubai, the United Arab Emirates.
Her sentence also included an $800 fine.
She was acquitted in early November by the Lahore High Court (LHC).
At the time of the arrest and during her trial, Hluskova, who had come to Pakistan to work as a model, pleaded she was innocent and that someone else placed the narcotics in her luggage.
Authorities regularly arrest both locals and foreigners over drug smuggling.
